As these protests turned violent, radical out-of-state protestors terrorized law enforcement, setting fires and throwing explosives. Republicans like Kevin Cramer who “strongly supported the pipeline” stood with our law enforcement officers and the National Guard as they worked to end this violence, but Heidi Heitkamp did practically nothing to help. We shouldn’t be surprised. Heidi previously hosted a glitzy fundraiser for one of the protest’s leaders, Chase Iron Eyes, in her $1 million DC home.

“Heidi Heitkamp sat on the sidelines as violence escalated, property was destroyed, and the lives of North Dakota law enforcement officers were put in harms way,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Heitkamp claims she fights for her state, but when North Dakota needed her most, she was nowhere to be found.”

President Trump’s administration just took action to fix an Obama-Heitkamp job-killing regulation that hurt North Dakota.

The Department of the Interior today announced a final rule that revises the 2016 Waste Prevention Rule. This Obama-era regulation put North Dakota jobs at risk and hurt the state’s industry, but Heidi Heitkamp supported it anyway.

In 2017, the House passed a resolution led by Rep. Kevin Cramer disapproving of this rule, but Senator Heitkamp stood with President Obama and Washington liberals to vote against the resolution, which failed by one vote thanks to Heitkamp.

Heitkamp’s vote was considered a win for President Obama and New York Times liberals who praised her decision, but it was a loss for North Dakota, a state that ranks as the second highest oil and gas producing state in the country.

“Heidi Heitkamp put liberal special interests ahead of North Dakota’s workers and industries,” said North Dakota Republican Party Communications Director Jake Wilkins. “Heitkamp was sent to Washington to be a voice for her state, but she has failed. Kevin Cramer has been fighting since day one to fix this rule and support North Dakota’s energy industry. North Dakotans deserve a Senator who will continue to fight for them.”

Chase Iron Eyes, North Dakota’s 2016 Democrat U.S. House nominee and high-profile Heidi Heitkamp supporter, accepted a plea agreement on felony charges for his part in the Dakota Access Pipeline #NoDAPL protests that put North Dakotans and law enforcement in harms way.

REMINDER: Senator Heitkamp hosted a fundraiser for Iron Eyes in her luxurious DC home before donating $2,000 to his failed 2016 campaign and voting for him during the Democrat state convention.

Heitkamp has now tried to distance herself from Iron Eyes, but during her first Senate campaign, she was “so proud to have his support.” Is she still?

What is perhaps the last high-profile criminal case from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests is all but over.

Attorney and North Dakota’s 2016 Democratic-NPL U.S. House nominee Chase Iron Eyes has accepted a plea agreement with Morton County prosecutors Bryan Grosinger and Chase Lingle. Iron Eyes was charged last year with felony inciting a riot and misdemeanor criminal trespass related to protest activities on Feb. 1, 2017, in erecting a camp on pipeline land in southern Morton County.

Under conditions of the plea agreement, prosecutors have moved to amend felony inciting a riot to misdemeanor disorderly conduct, as well as dismiss misdemeanor criminal trespass.

The plea agreement also includes a 360-day deferred imposition, during which Iron Eyes must commit no criminal violations and pay a $1,500 fine and $350 in court fees.

If, after that 360 days, Iron Eyes has successfully completed those terms, the case will be cleared from his record.

The plea agreement filed Tuesday awaits Surrogate Judge Lee Christofferson’s OK. As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, he had not issued a related order.

In a statement, Iron Eyes remarked that the plea agreement includes no incarceration or risk to his license to practice law.

“The world should know that it’s legally impossible for me and other Native people to trespass on treaty land, and I never started a riot. I and the water protectors are not terrorists. We and the U.S. veterans who stood with us to protect Mother Earth are the true patriots,” he said.

“Now I can be with my family and continue defending the sovereignty of my people. This will allow me to keep working nonstop to protect First Amendment, human and Native rights.”

Grosinger and Lingle were unavailable to comment at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

As of Wednesday, 18 of the 831 state-level criminal cases from the DAPL protests were open, according to South Central Judicial District trial court administrator Donna Wunderlich. About 90 cases are inactive with warrants. About 700 cases have been adjudicated.

Iron Eyes had intended to argue for a “necessity defense,” invoking his belief that the threat of the pipeline left him no choice but to commit civil disobedience. A nine-day jury trial had been set to begin in November.